“You Can’t Stop the Beat” is the finale of the musical “Hairspray” and a good description of everything that goes before it.

“This is two hours and 10 minutes all the way through, and there’s really no let-up,” said Paul Jacques, director of the Redlands Bowl’s production that opens tonight. “It’s very, very demanding. As we told (the cast) early on, do some calisthenics. Get that cardio up. Get everything going. It’s going to be a real, real haul.”

Cast members at the show’s technical rehearsal said they enjoyed the challenge.

“Hairspray” is the stage version of John Waters’ 1988 movie about Baltimore teenagers in the early 1960s. Its heroine is Tracy Turnblad, a plus-size high school student who wants to get on “The Corny Collins Show,” which her mother, Edna, describes as “an after school sock hop type television program.”

Tracy’s push to get on the program turns into a crusade to integrate it so she can dance on the air with her black friends.

“Hairspray” pokes fun at the dance fads, clothing and especially the big hair styles of the period.

“I put on my wig yesterday for the first time and I was, like, ‘Yes! This should be my hairdo every day,’” said Courtney Ladd, who plays Tracy with a huge, ratted ’do.

“I got a note to actually make my hair smaller the other day. I guess I went a little overboard,” said Annalise Staudt, who play Tracy’s best friend Penny.

Although it is mostly silly fun, the show has a message.

“While the show has a lot of undertones about integration, I think the larger aspect about it is acceptance of people of all walks of life, of all sizes, shapes, colors, all of it,” said Staudt. “It’s a broader picture of general acceptance of individuals. I think that’s what makes it special for all of us.”

Kimberly Session, who plays Seaweed’s mother, Motormouth Maybelle, said, “You have to be who you are, love who you are, and then have your own parade.”

“Hairspray” opened on Broadway in 2002 and won a slew of awards, including a Tony for best musical. Its content is more PG than last year’s “The Sound of Music” and most of the other musicals done at the Bowl.

It includes a few double entendres, most notably in a song about a beauty contest winner called “Miss Baltimore Crabs,” and follows the convention of having the character of Edna played by a man, here Travis Rhett Wilson.

Staudt described “Hairspray” as “the newest show the Bowl has ever done,” but cast members think Bowl audiences are ready for it.

“It’s not a tasteless show,” said Session. “It’s not something that’s so overly salacious that we’re just doing it for attention or shock value. We are here to help teach, educate and entertain.”

Some of the talent in the show has ties to Christian Arts and Theatre, a school in Corona, including choreographer Hollee Hennebelle-Cool, and Ladd, an alumna.

Ladd said she is attracted by Tracy’s free spirit.

“I was very excited about how fun she is and how outgoing she is and how she doesn’t care what other people think. She dances a different way and people think that’s weird. She still does it. She still goes for it.”

Beloved songs, intricate dance routines and a flying nanny highlight the venue’s summer musical, which has a public dress rehearsal on Tuesday, July 21, and runs Thursday, July 23, through Sunday, July 26.

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